For the first time in years, German sweet makers have seen a significant drop in the number of exports to Britain, Stephan Nießner said. The UK market makes up a significant proportion of Germany’s confectionary exports, with around seven percent of sweets produced in the country bound for Great Britain. Addressing business leaders in Berlin, Mr Nießner, Chairman of the Association of the German Confectionery Industry, said the value of sweets and snacks sold to the UK had fallen by 5.1 percent since the Brexit referendum in 2016. He attributed…

WASHINGTON — Satellite manufacturers say they are trying to protect their component suppliers from the drought of commercial telecom spacecraft that threatens to put such companies out of business. As the slowdown in geostationary satellite orders enters its fourth year, manufacturers worry that the suppliers they rely on, many being small businesses, won’t survive unless major adaptations take place. To ensure supplier continuity, manufacturers said they are aggressively standardizing the components they use for various satellites, thereby increasing production of the same units. “Over a quarter of our suppliers are small…

This article originally appeared in the March 12, 2018 issue of SpaceNews magazine. The world’s biggest, best established satellite operators talk of broadband as an enormously lucrative opportunity. But in truth, nothing is causing them more frustration. Demand for ever-faster broadband internet connections is maxing out today’s satellites, setting off an industry-wide stampede toward increasingly powerful high-throughput satellites (HTS). While that might sound like a good thing, the rush to HTS is driving down bandwidth prices so fast that some fairly low-mileage satellites are struggling to keep up. Seasoned operators,…

Rescuers pulled people from the burning wreckage of US-Bangla Q400 after the air disaster at 2.20pm local time (8.35am GMT) on Monday March 12. Some 22 people were rushed to various hospitals. Passengers included 12 Nepali tour agents who had attended an annual sales conference in Bangladesh, according to one official. Where did Bangla flight crash in Kathmandu? Flight BS211 veered off the runway after trying to land at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal. The hill-ringed airport, based about six kilometres from the centre city, is the sole international…

The Saratov Airlines Flight 703 vanished after take-off and crashed on February 11, only minutes after leaving Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport. A transcript from a recovered flight recorder has been published by RBC, revealing the last conversation between captain Valery Gubanov and his co-pilot Sergei Gambaryan. Mr Gubanov told his co-pilot to gain altitude instead of slanting the plane downwards, according to the transcript. Mr Gubanov said: “I understood you wanted to… but instead, you’re going down.” He later said: “Why are you going down? Where? Altitude! Altitude! Altitude! Up!” The…

Jobs in the UK, France, Germany and Spain could face the axe, the European manufacturer said. Airbus said reduced demand for its A380 superjumbo and A400M troop carrier could see jobs cut or employees moved. The redeployment will take place over the next three years. Airbus UK said it did not expect to see redundancies at its Broughton plant in Wales. Jürgen Kerner, director of the union that represents Airbus employees in Germany, said: “The company’s order book is healthy enough that it must be able to offer affected workers…

WASHINGTON — Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg said his company has refrained from running headlong with other fleet operators in adding new telecom satellites over areas now burdened by an oversupply of capacity. That glut of satellite capacity in Asia, Africa and Latin America puts pressure on fleet operators to consolidate, but the industry shouldn’t look to Telesat to initiate any mergers or acquisitions, he said. Goldberg said Telesat is focusing instead on deploying a constellation of small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), which would be differentiated from other systems…

Air New Zealand has produced some stellar safety videos and ads in the past, but their latest set in Antarctica is prompting backlash. Starring Entourage actor turned activist Adrian Grenier, the pre-flight safety video takes viewers on a journey around Antarctica and the important conservation work being done there. SEE ALSO: Airbus’ drone taxi has successfully completed its first 53-second test flight Grenier meets up with scientists from Scott Base to track penguin populations, explains ice core samples and pays a visit to the hut of early Antarctic explorer Ernest…

EAST2WEST NEWS / ANNA LIESOWSKA The abusive passenger was removed from the plane at Tolmachevo airport He punched and kicked male passengers and at one point sought to attack a baby. The violent foul-mouthed man strode up and down the cabin randomly lashing out at travellers, then sitting down next to them – including terrified women, abusing them and making unprovoked attacks, said passengers and police. The crazed economy class passenger even tried to undress himself in front of shocked and scared travellers, removing his top. Eventually male passengers overpowered…

Get the Mach newsletter. SUBSCRIBE Air taxis that can soar over rush-hour traffic took another step closer to reality when an autonomous passenger drone designed by Airbus’s Vahana team made its maiden flight in Pendleton, Oregon last month. Newly released video of the 53-second test shows the electric aircraft hovering at a height of 16 feet before returning to the ground. [embedded content] The test and a second one on Feb. 1 showed that the “Alpha One” prototype can take off and land vertically. Future tests will gauge its ability…